Technology Dialectics - Transdisciplinary Plucking

Transdisciplinary Plucking for the Robotic Walker


Business and Economics | Computer Science | Technology Design | Health Sciences | Law | Public Health and Epidemiology | Rehabilitation Engineering | About Technology Dialectics


Business and Economics

by Terrill Frantz

Economics and business seem to creep into any endeavor, even those just for fun. The Robotic Walker project is no exception. Even if the project-founder goals are for social benefit, or merely for scientific challenge -- or the presumed economic gain as well--the economics of the project are critical to the project getting off the ground and certainly essential to getting the product to market and staying there. From the articles in this list, one could begin to piece together a viable commercialization strategy for the walker that includes both the geriatric individual and health-service providers.

Below is a list of publications (academic journals, business fact database, government reports, and newspaper articles) that provide a broad survey of sub-topics in the economic and business domain that are relevant and insightful to issues that potentially (if not addressed) pose barriers to the economics and business aspects of an endeavor such as the Robotic Walker project. The criteria for an article making it to this listing is that it introduces as a primer, a source for more information, or merely a trigger for items that need to be addressed within the realm of economics and business.

For the purposes of this list and future analysis, the Robotic Walker is being characterized and considered a "Medical Device', which may cause discomfort to uses of the list as medical devices include industrial devices used in hospital operating rooms and facilities, in addition to personal medical devices, such at walkers.

  • Hart, Christopher (1996). The power of extraordinary guarantees. In "Strategic Purchasing: Sourcing for the Bottom Line" (pp. 20-22), July 25. New York: The Conference Board. PDF, link

    This article advises on creating extraordinary and truly customer-valued payouts as a lever for product sales.


  • Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios Online Database PDF, link

    Use this online database of industry financial ratios to estimate ratios for the Medical Equipment (Rental and Sales) market. While this data is based on the financials at the company level, for pure-plays, the data can be roughly projected to the product level. This is useful for ball-parking the markup ratio. For the Robotic Walker, suggest using the "Medical Equipment Rental" (SIC# 7352; $500,000-$1,000,000) and "Medical & Hospital Equipment" (SIC# 5047) line of businesses. The output for the Medical Equipment Rental is shown in the pdf document.


  • Gilbert, Richard J. (2000). Exclusive dealing, preferential dealing, and dynamic efficiency. Review of Industrial Organization, 16, 167-184. PDF

    Article provides useful background information on the relationship that may be considered with dealers in the potential retail supply chain. While the article is not necessarily directly pertinent to the Robotic Walker, it does provide insight into the issues of dealing with an intermediary in the process of getting the walker to the end consumer. This includes the possible option of sales to middlemen in the process beyond dealers, namely retirement homes, health providers, et cetera.


  • Greene, Henry, Milne, George R. (2005). Alternative data sources in target marketing: The value of exographics. Journal of Target, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 14, 33-46. PDF

    This article provides insight into the art of identifying and relating to a targeted consumer beyond the atypical demographics. The marketer should consider domains beyond merely a target customer's age and location, but on the details of the behavioral characteristics and the opportunities of the underlying phenomena. For example, potential customers may reside in Florida, but often these customers reside in Florida for only a portion of the year and reside in a more northern locale the rest of the year. Perhaps the target customers enjoy the game of Bingo, so perhaps give-aways at bingo parlors or on-board bingo games, for example, may provide the edge to make the Robotic Walker, just the biz!


  • Loftus, Barbara Samuel (1997). The impact of an emerging technology on the early buyer-seller relationship. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Spring, 20-30. PDF

    This article provides insight into the development of the business-to-business and seller-buyer relationship of an emerging technology in the health care field. The article emphasizes the importance of product positioning early on in the seller-buyer relationship and the importance of a pursuing an immediacy for the relationship over a longer-term perspective.


  • Day, George S. (2000). Managing market relationships. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28, 24-30. PDF

    This article provides three operational elements of creating and maintaining relationships with valuable customers that are based on the selling organization itself. This article is particularly important to the formation of the underlying organization that will manage the Robotic Walker from back to front in the value chain.


  • Medical Technology and Practice Patterns Institute. (1994). Implication of NAFTA for trade in health care technology. June 10, Washington, DC. PDF

    This workshop summary reports on a conference held for governmental and business representatives from Mexico, Canada, and the United States. This document is useful for bringing to the attention of the Robotic Walker team that being a member of NATFA allows for easy expansion of market to outside the US, in this case specifically throughout NAFTA. The message of including this article as a resource extends beyond North America; it also suggests that there is a global marketplace that should be considered for the product. This document provides a perspective on the issues of international markets for the Robotic Walker.


  • International Trade Administration. (2006). Global import regulations for pre-owned (used and refurbished) medical devices. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce. PDF

    This is a fifth edition of a nearly-annual report that compiles detailed information relating to importing pre-owned medical equipment into approximately 125 other countries. This is an important document to the Robotic Walker as it (a) raises awareness of the existence of the global market for such technology, and (b) serves a manifestation of the complexity of targeting a global marketplace. This perspective is critical to appreciate when making strategic and tactical decisions about expanding the marketplace for the Robotic Walker beyond the US (or NAFTA) boundaries.


  • Transportation Security Administration. (2006). Prepare for takeoff - Passengers with special needs. United States. PDF

    While on the surface this document may belong in with the product design discipline, it has additional and direct implications for the economic and business aspects of the Robotic Walker project. First, this highlights a possible market for the walker; a rental market in an airport. Second, this document highlights that the Robotic Walker will inevitably be physically exposed to areas well beyond its "home base" and that other non-owners may actually need to be able to operate -- or at least inspect -- the device without he benefit of training or personal experience with it. This directly affects the development costs of the device as additional features such as simplistic switches, and such, need to be installed in the device and thus increase (perhaps unexpectantly) the cost of development and production. Although, certainly these features can be a marketable value-add in the product.


  • Bottorf, Leslie. (2000). Funding a medical device start-up. Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry Magazine, January. PDF

    While this article was published at the height of the internet and dot-com boom, the information within remains pertinent to the Robotic Walker project. This article provides advice, but more importantly, notice, of the various aspects of the economic and business issues that must be addressed during the formative stages of the business and organizational strategy. Producing a roadmap for key milestones, assessing the market opportunity (or not), and team-risks are all important aspects of the project. This article also provides a brief introduction to the various funding sources for medical device start-ups.


  • Kerber, Ross. (2005). In medical devices, a jobs boom is forecast - New products being plans to boost hiring. Boston: The Boston Globe. PDF

    While this article is specific to the state of Massachusetts last year, it surfaces a couple of economic and business aspects that are of importance to the Robotic Walker project, specifically the state of the macro business environment for medical devices. This article gives evidence of broad growth dynamics for the industry and for specific one-product companies in the industry. This provides useful comparisons for the strategic planning and forming expectations for the future of the project.


  • Strutton, H. David, Lumpkin, James R. (1993). The influence of determinant product attributes on the elderly’s information search for health care innovations. The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Fall, 122-138. PDF

    This research paper investigates the search process used by the elderly while seeking innovative health care products. This study directly injects information and a perspective that can be used in the direct marketing of the Robotic Walker to the consumer.



Computer Science

by Xiaoqian Jiang

There have been significant attention given to and great progress made in contact assistive robotics like robotic walkers. Systems are developed to provide mobility support for the blind and pay particular attention to the needs of the elderly or frail. While many paper focused the technique in building the robotic walkers, few mentioned the consequence and social acceptance of the technique.

The 12 publications below summarizes social assistive tasks, discusses challenges and opportunities in robotic walkers. The criteria for an article making it to this listing is that it reveals a primer, conducts relevent experiments, analyze user feedback or suggest the potential use of robotic walkers within the realm of psychology and sociology.

  • Maja J Mataric´, "Socially Assistive Robotics.", IEEE Intelligent Systems, Aug 2006. PDF

    This paper defined the research area of socially assistive robotics, focused on assisting people through social interaction. It summarized active social assistive research projects and classifies them by target populations, application domains, and interaction methods. Besides that, the paper discussed challenges and opportunities that were specific to the growing field of socially assistive robotics.


  • M. Montemerlo, J. Pineau, N. Roy, S. Thrun and V. Varma. "Experiences with a Mobile Robotic Guide for the Elderly.", Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2002). Edmonton, Jul. 2002 PDF

    The paper described a robot system that relies heavily on probabilistic AI with the goal to investigate the feasibility of assisting elderly people with cognitive and physical activity limitation. The experiments successfully demonstrated that it could autonomously provide guidance for elderly residents.


  • Lacey, G., MacNamara, S., and Dawson-Howe, K. M. 1998. "Personal Adaptive Mobility Aid for the Infirm and Elderly Blind.", In Assistive Technology and Artificial intelligence, Applications in Robotics, User interfaces and Natural Language Processing V. O. Mittal, H. A. Yanco, J. M. Aronis, and R. C. Simpson, Eds. Lecture Notes In Computer Science, vol. 1458. Springer-Verlag, London, 211-220. PDF

    This paper examined the issues related to mobility for the blind and pay particular attention to the needs of the elderly or frail. The aim is to provide both physical supports during walking and obstacle avoidance. Following the evaluation of the concept prototype and the user needs survey the prototype was designed and trails are conducted using two different configurations of the user interface.


  • T. Fong, I. Nourbakhsh, K. Dautenhahn, "A survey of socially interactive robots.", Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Special issue on Socially Interactive Robots 42 (3-4), pp 143-166, 2003. PDF

    The paper reviews "socially interactive robots": robots for which social human-robot interaction is important. They discussed the context for socially interactive robots, emphasizing the relationship to other research fields and the different forms of "social robots".


  • Wasson, G. S., Gunderson, J. P., Graves, S., and Felder, R. 2001. Effective Shared Control in Cooperative Mobility Aids. In Proceedings of the Fourteenth international Florida Artificial intelligence Research Society Conference (May 21 - 23, 2001). I. Russell and J. F. Kolen, Eds. AAAI Press, 509-513. PDF

    The paper focused on design of intelligent wheeled walkers. By allowing the users to vary degrees of control, from complete to collaborate, these walkers afford the user with the feeling of control, while helping to increase the ease and safety of their daily travels.


  • S., Genot, F., Godding, S., Kozono, H., Skwersky, A., Yu, H., and Yu, L.S. "PAMM - A Robotic Aid to the Elderly for Mobility Assistance and Monitoring: A "Helping-Hand" for the Elderly.", Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 00), San Francisco, CA, Vol. 1, pp. 570-576, April 2000. PDF

    The system is intended to assist the elderly living independently or in senior assisted living facilities. Typical assisted living facility resident's physical and cognitive needs are analyzed and a series of test-beds are developed to demonstrate and evaluate this technology. The field trail showed a high acceptance of the system as measured by survey and by informal interview.


  • J Glover, S Thrun, JT Matthews, "Learning user models of Mobility-related activity through instrumented walking aids.", Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA'04. 2004 PDF

    This paper demonstrated an approach succeeded in determining the specific activity in which a user engages when using the walkers. One of the proto-type walkers was tested in an assisted living facility near Pittsburgh. The model predicted peoples' activity with 100% accuracy, for a total of 61 activities and topological changes in the testing data. The result is encouraging in turning the walker into a profitable guidance system.


  • AJ Rentschler, RA Cooper, B Blasch, ML Boninger "Intelligent walkers for the elderly: Performance and safety testing of VA-PAMAID robotic walker", Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 2003 PDF

    The paper evaluated safety and performance of the Veteran Affairs Personal Adaptive Mobility Aid (VA-PAMAID). Features including stability, energy consumption, fatigue life and sensor and control malfunctions are tested. Clinical trials are planned to compare the device to other low-technical adaptive mobility devices used by individuals with visual impairment.


  • A. Morris, R. Donamukkala, A. Kapuria, A. Steinfeld, J. Matthews, J. Dunbar-Jacobs, and S. Thrun. "A robotic walker that provides guidance.", In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2003. PDF

    The system provided navigation and global orientation in additional to safety, stability and support provided by conventional walkers. It has been tested in a retirement facility near Pittsburgh, PA, USA. User acceptance and interest in the robotic walker was high and the result demonstrated and validated the control concepts and technical feasibility of a mobile robotic walker.


  • J. Glover, D. Holstius, M. Manojlovich, K. Montgomery, A. Powers, J. Wu, S. Kiesler, J. Matthews, & S. Thrun. "A Robotically-Augmented Walker for Older Adults.", Carnegie Mellon University Technical Report CMU-CS-03-170, 2003. PDF

    The system supported navigation in large indoor environments by providing simple directions to target locations such as a cafeteria. The walker received positive reviews during informal testing with residents of a Pennsylvania residence family for older adults.


  • Yu, H., Spenko, M., and Dubowsky, S. 2003. "An Adaptive Shared Control System for an Intelligent Mobility Aid for the Elderly.", Auton. Robots 15, 1 (Jul. 2003), 53-66. PDF

    The paper introduced a personal mobility aid and health monitoring system that provides physical support and guidance, as well as monitoring basic vital signs for users that may have both limited physical and cognitive capability. Based on the experimental study, an adaptive admittance model with velocity-dependent damping has been tested and it demonstrated smoother motion and increased user comfort. Statistic of user feedback on ease of control, going straight, turning, heaviness, support, satisfaction is given.


  • BAI Gerard Lacey, S MacNamara, "User involvement in the design and evaluation of a smart mobility aid.", Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 2000 PDF

    This paper described the design and evaluation of an innovative smart mobility aid for the frail visually impaired. A voice interface was mentioned as a desirable interaction method in the context of requesting the device to navigate from point to point in the nursing room. Many features of the building, such as frequent gaps in the handrail due to junctions, doors and windows, were mentioned as obstacles to personal mobility.


Technology Design

by Christopher Chan

Implementing a robotic walker raises substantial issues in computing and design. Although computers are, in numerous ways, capable of fully automating a task (though not necessarily successfully), potential users may not appreciate the loss of control. The following papers examine barriers to user adoption from the standpoint of control systems and the integration of a user's goals with the goals of the walker.

The papers also illustrate how user adoption can be influenced by social and cultural factors. The widespread use of a robotic walker may depend on the attractiveness of the device as much as its functionality. Design of such technology should examine the milieu in which aging occurs or risk rejection or non-use of the technology. Designers should be aware of the environment, both physical and cultural, as well as the cognitive capacities of elderly users.

  • Blythe, M., Reed, D., Wright, P., and Monk, A. Critical Perspectives On Dependability: An Older Person's Experience of Assistive Technology. Proceedings of the 4th Decennial Conference on Critical Computing: 169-172. 2005 PDF

    The dependability of a device encompasses more than the mechanical or technical robustness of the device. Social, cultural, and environmental factors should be considered in addition to the technical and personal dependability of the device. Elderly users should not be stigmatized by cultural factors, such as the look of the device.


  • Desmet, P. and Dijkhuis, E. A Wheelchair can be Fun: A Case of Emotion-driven Design. Proceedings of the International Conference on Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces: 22-27. 2003. PDF

    This paper discusses emotion-driven design, specifically regarding children's wheelchairs. An emotional approach may provide insight into what stigmatizes wheelchairs. The approach in this paper can help designers understand the wishes of users and provide a design that users do not find embarrassing.


  • Forlizzi, J. Robotic Products to Assist the Aging Population. Interactions, Vol. 12, No. 2: 16-18. 2005. PDF

    The social experience of robots needs to be taken into account when inserting robotic technology into the "ecology of aging." Social dynamics play an important role. Technologies should account for the adaptations the elderly may make when parts of the ecology break down. (Example: no longer being able to drive.)


  • Hawthorn, D. How Universal is Good Design for Older Users? Proceedings of the Conference on Universal Usability: 38-45. 2003. PDF

    The paper shows the "multiple considerations [that] influence interface design decisions when designing of older users." Although the paper primarily deals with an email client, the conclusions are applicable to any system with a visual interface to a computer.


  • Hirsch, T., Forlizzi, J., Hyder, E., Goetz, J., Kurtz, C., and Stroback, J. The ELDer Project: Social, Emotional, and Environmental Factors in the Design of Eldercare Technologies. Proceedings on the Conference on Universal Usability: 72-79. 2000. PDF

    An effective assistive technology needs to be more than functional - the technology should be desirable and attractive. Acknowledging aesthetics helps widen the appeal of such devices, and in turn, a wider user base de-stigmatizes usage of the device. An example is the use of scooters over wheelchairs; the scooters are "styled to be fun and sporty."


  • Levine, S., Bell, D., Jaros, L., Simpson, R., Koren, Y., and Borenstein, J. The NavChair Assistive Wheelchair Navigation system. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol. 7, No. 4: 443-451. 1999. PDF

    The NavChair is a "smart" wheelchair that has three modes: "obstacle avoidance, door passage, and automatic wall following." The performance is adequate due to the restrictions placed by the need for obstacle avoidance. Avoiding obstacles forces the wheelchair to require a special mode of doors (which consists of two obstacles placed in a relatively narrow space). Users need to be able to reach sinks or tables are well, destinations hindered by the use of obstacle avoidance.


  • Maciuszek, D., Aberg, J., and Shahmehri, N. What Help Do Older People Need? Constructing a Functional Design Space of Electronic Assistive Technology Applications. Proceedings of the 7th international ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility: 4-11. 2005. PDF

    When designing assistive technology, the actual needs of the users should be considered. There is a tension between carers, who would prefer more automation, and users, who might prefer less automation (a guide). The results of a field study indicate needs that might be handled through electronic assistive technologies.


  • Morris, A., Donamukkala, R., Kapuria, A., Steinfeld, A., Matthews, J.T., Dunbar-Jacob, J., and Thrun, S. A Robotic Walker That Provides Guidance. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation: 25-30. 2003. PDF

    [Previous work by Judith Matthews on a robotic walker.] Communication between the user and the robot is important if the robot has an active role in directing motion. Simple communication (an arrow) was much less confusing than complex communication (maps and goals).


  • Mynatt, E., Essa, I., and Rogers, W. Increasing the Opportunities for Aging in Place. Proceedings on the Conference of Universal Usability: 65-71. 2000. PDF

    This paper presents an overall perspective from Human Computer Interaction (HCI) on aging. As aging does not impact all physical and cognitive abilities equally, designers must be aware of those limitations. The authors suggest ways "everyday computing" may be used to support cognitive changes.


  • Wasson, G., Gunderson, J., Graves, S., and Felder, R. An Assistive Robotic Agent for Pedestian Mobility. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Autonomous Agents: 169-173. 2001. PDF

    Assistive technologies must allow users to remain in control. The robotic agent should not assume goals independently of the user - rather, the agent should determine what the user is trying to achieve and support them. To improve quality of life, the agent should still require effort from the user.


  • Wasson, G., Sheth, P., Alwan, M., Granata, K., Ledoux, A., and Cunjun H. User Intent in a Shared Control Framework for Pedestrian Mobility Aids. Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems: 2962-2967. 2003. PDF

    A robotic walker will need to have a control mechanism available to the user. In a walker, the user simply controls the whole process. Here, results from force sensors embedded in the handles of a walker show that the overall turning moment is correlated with intent to turn. The intent of the user should be part of the control system of the robotic walker.


  • Yu, H., Spenko, M., and Dubowsky, S. An Adaptive Shared Control System for an Intelligent Mobility Aid for the Elderly. Autonomous Robots, Vol. 15, No. 1: 53-66. 2003. PDF

    The Personal Aids for Mobility and Monitoring (PAMM) SmartCane and SmartWalker are presented here. The system uses ceiling mounted signs and a camera to determine the location of the user. Three control systems are field tested: a free driving mode, an assisted mode, and a full computer control mode. Users could not distinguish between the free and assisted modes, but complained about the full computer control mode. The system can be tuned for individual users based on their capabilities.



Health and Medical

by Jana Diesner

Warm up: Medicare will allow a walker/rollator every 5 years. They cover 80% of the allowed amount set by Medicare. This is usually about $130.00. Regardless of whether your rollator cost $150 or $350, the reimbursement amount is basically the same.

On a very general level, I learned two key items from my paper review:

Any kind of exercise or physical activity guided by the Robotic Walker needs to be individually and professionally prescribed. Therefore, any modules or technologies on the Robotic Walker need to facilitate individual adjustments and data exchange with a health care professional. Exercise, especially walking, improves balance. Thus, if the Robotic Walker facilitates or stimulates walking, the balance issue can be simultaneously addressed.

Following, please find my references. They are grouped by the topics that I focused on, and include a few points on what the findings might imply for the Robotic Walker.

Walking and Exercise
How much does exercise improve life quality for aging people?

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2002). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physical activity and older Americans: benefits and strategies. Accessed October 26, 2006, at: PDF, link

    Substantial health benefits occur with a moderate amount of a regular routine of activity (e.g., at least 30 minutes of brisk walking on 5 or more days of the week). Older adults may have trouble getting to facilities and programs, and facilities may not provide adequate training and monitoring.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Following the finding that the most promising methods for improving aging people’s health conditions include patient goal setting, precise and individually tailored exercise prescriptions and followup, the Robotic Walker might needed to be equipped with a log tool that can transmit data to the patient’s primary care physician, and can adjust itself to instructions sent back to the patient by a doctor.


  • Keysor, J.J. (2003). Does late-life physical activity or exercise prevent or minimize disablement?: A critical review of the scientific evidence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 25(3,2): 129-136. PDF

    Exercise, particularly walking, increases muscle strength, aerobic capacity and reduces functional limitations. The majority of experimental studies did not show that physical activity or exercise did improve physical disability.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Technology that stimulates walking might be beneficial for the client’s health. Target group for walking activities should not be disabled people, but people who can still walk and/ or exercise.


  • Boslaugh, S.E., & Andresen, E.M. (2006). Correlates of physical activity for adults with disability. Preventing chronic disease 3(3):A78. PDF

    Only one fourth of the study population met the recommendation for moderate activity level, and disabled aging people do not meeting basic recommendations for physical activity. Some correlates of physical activity found in general populations are also related to activity level for people with disability (age, general health, race), whereas others (sex, education level) are not.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Different groups of people physically would benefit most from different amounts of exercise. Thus, the Robotic Walker’s should not only support walking, but should have a module that allows adjustment for different amounts of activity.


  • McDermott, A.Y., & Mernitz, H. (2006). Exercise and older patients: prescribing guidelines. American Family Physician. 74(3):437-44. PDF

    Increased daily activity, especially aerobics, strength training, and flexibility exercises can reduce medication dependence and health care costs while improving quality of life. But in order to better benefit from exercise people need to be given prescriptions that include recommendations on frequency, intensity, type, time, and progression of exercise that follow disease-specific guidelines, as well as motivational strategies, such as goal-setting, self-monitoring, and problem-solving education.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    A standard over-the-counter Robotic Walker might not be helpful, unless it is equipped with the data transfer and communication module that allows the user to interact with health care professionals and adjustment of the walker’s capabilities to the patient’s idiosyncrasies.


Walking and Exercise
Are aging people able to perform computer-guided exercise?

  • Kressig, R.W., & Echt, K.V. (2002) Exercise Prescribing. Computer Application in Older Adults . Gerontologist 42:273-277. PDF

    The 34 college-educated volunteers, equal numbers of men and women, ranging in age from 60 to 87 were willing and physically and cognitively able to interact with a computerized exercise promotion interface, independently of previous compute usage. Participants in the study were able to complete the computerized their exercise program ina reasonable amount of time and with minimal assistance from the provider.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Elderly people are able and willing to learn new interactive technologies that guide them through physical exercise. I understand that this article overlaps with Computer Science, Design.


Walking and Exercise
What about alternatives?

  • Thorpe, R.J. Jr., Simonsick, E.M., Brach J.S., Ayonayon H., Satterfield S., Harris T.B., Garcia M., & Kritchevsky, S.B. (2006). Dog ownership, walking behavior, and maintained mobility in late life. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 54(9):1419-24. PDF

    Study shows general suboptimal walking activity in older adults. Although dog ownership appears to facilitate walking behavior, only a minority of older dog owners walk their dogs. The mobility advantage of dog ownership was seen only in dog walkers and was similar to that associated with any walking.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Older adults should be engaged in more walking. The Robotic Walker will only do any good if the user walks around with it. The Robotic Walker needs to be more motivating than a dog to engage older adults in walking more. It also would need to be cheaper than a dog (assuming that I dog is less than $130.00, which is the maximum reimbursement for a walker through medicare).


Walking and Exercise
What about specific needs?

  • Wong, C.H., Wong, S.F., Pang, W.S., Azizah. M.Y., & Dass, M.J. (2003). Habitual Walking and Its Correlation to Better Physical Function: Implications for Prevention of Physical Disability in Older Persons. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 58:M555-M560. PDF

    This observational study among 123 predominantly ethnic Chinese participants aged 50 years and older showed that elderly people with a higher self-reported walking level had a better peak oxygen consumption. Interpedently from any exercise, men had a lower body fat composition, better peak oxygen consumption and stronger handgrip than women.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    There are gender-specific needs: The Robotic Walker might need to engage women stronger in physical exercise than men, and would need to address women’s weaker handgrip.


  • Holviala, J.H., Sallinen, J.M., Kraemer, W.J., Alen, M.J., & Hakkinen, K.K. (2006). Effects of strength training on muscle strength characteristics, functional capabilities, and balance in middle-aged and older women. Journal of strength and conditioning research 20(2):336-44. PDF

    This study indicates that exercise, specifically total body heavy resistance training (weight lifting) and explosive dynamic training (acceleration) contribute to improvements in dynamic balance capacity in aging women, among other factors. These techniques can be applied in rehabilitation or preventive exercise protocols.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    For women, there might be a component added that allows for some weight lifting. Adding such a component might be cheap yet significantly improving the value of the Robotic Walker. Exercise improves balance.


Balance
How beneficial is help with balance?

  • Freedman, V.A., Hodgson, N., Lynn, J., Spillman, B.C., Waidmann, T., Wilkinson, A.M., & Wolf, D.A. (2006). Promoting declines in the prevalence of late-life disability: comparisons of three potentially high-impact interventions. Milbank Q. 84(3): 493-520. PDF

    Comparative review of three potentially high-impact interventions strategies for preventing late-life disability: physical activity, depression screening and treatment, and fall prevention. Multi-component fall-prevention efforts would likely have a higher impact than either of the other two methods.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Focus on fall-prevention rather than exercise and walking. This one contradicts with the previous findings.


Balance
How beneficial is a Robotic Walker in comparison to exercise?

  • Brauera, S.G., Woollacotta, M., & Shumway-Cookb, A. (2001). The Interacting Effects of Cognitive Demand and Recovery of Postural Stability in Balance-Impaired Elderly Persons. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 56: M 489-M496. PDF

    Recovery from balance disturbances is slower, less efficient and need attentionally more demanding for balance-impaired elderly people who simultaneously recover and perform a cognitive task (verbal reaction time to auditory tones) than it is for non-balance-impaired elderly people. The ability of healthy elderly individuals to recover was not influenced by concurrent task demands.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    Thus, balance-impaired elderly individuals should not be exposed to any second stimulus from the Robotic Walker while being helped with their balance. Non balance-impaired elderly individuals can be exposed to multiple inputs from the Robotic Walker without negatively impacting their balance.


Balance
What precisely prevents falling?

  • Gillespie, L.D., Gillespie, W.J., Robertson, M.C., Lamb, S.E., Cumming, R.G., & Rowe, BH. (2001). Interventions for preventing falls in elderly people. The Cochrane Library 2. PDF

    Significant findings with respect to Robotic Walker: Falling significantly prevented by individually and professionally prescribed muscle strengthening and balance retraining, home hazard modification only for people with a history of falling, and a 15 week Tai Chi group course. Interventions of unknown effectiveness are group-delivered exercises, individual lower limb strength training, cognitive/behavioral approach alone and correction of visual deficiency.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    For people with a history of falling it needs to be made sure that a walker does not enhance home hazards. Walking needs to be combined with training of other muscles.


Social activity
What type of socializing is most beneficial to aging people?

  • Konlaan, B.B., Bygren, L.O., & Johansson, S.E. (2000). Visiting the cinema, concerts, museums or art exhibitions as determinant of survival: a Swedish fourteen-year cohort follow-up. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 28(3):174-8. PDF

    Results form this interview-based study suggest that old people who visited the cinema, concerts, museums, or art exhibitions have a lower mortality risk than those who engage in these activities more often. Attending theatre, church service or sports event as a spectator as well as reading or music making did not lead to any beneficial effect on longevity.

    What this might imply for the Robotic Walker Project:

    A GPS navigator or an alternative type of map or information providing module should focus on certain types of cultural institutions and events.



Law

by Brian Hirshman

Policy and public policy can have a significant impact on technological development and societal acceptance of a new technology. Robotic walkers are no exception. Though policy makers have not yet addressed the robotic walker, past policies and past responses can hint at how the government and society will respond to its introduction. The documents below deal with current policies that are likely to affect the development of the robotic walker directly, tangentially, or speculatively.

It is important to note that public policy and law may differ between countries, and policies applicable to one country may be less applicable to another. These documents focus on public policy in the United States; however, in the area of social policy for autonomous vehicles, the European Union policy was better formulated and more widely discussed.

  • Assistive Technology Act of 1998, S.2432, 105th Congress, 2nd session (1998). PDF, link

    A bill that establishes grants and funding to enable individuals to access life-improving technology, including walkers and wheelchairs. The findings and purposes in the header of this bill may be of especial interest to those developing new assistive technology devices. This bill was subsequently amended in 2004 but the spirit remains the same.


  • US Administration on Aging (2000). Unofficial Compilation of the OAA as amended in 2000, retrieved October 24th, 2006. US Department of Health and Human Services. PDF, link

    A document which nicely compiles all revision to the original Older Americans Act of 1965. The Older Americans Act of 1965 emphasized, among other things, helping the elderly achieve as much independence and security as possible. Of interest may be title IV, which focuses on transportation and independence for older individuals.


  • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, S.933, 101st Congress, 2nd session (1990). PDF, link

    A watershed in rights for the disabled, it introduces a number of safeguards for people with disabilities. It also includes several provisions related to transportation, though it focuses on public or motor vehicle transportation and not on devices for individuals. This act was initially passed in 1990 and has been subsequently amended several times, though the general spirit remains true to the original law.


  • US General Accounting Office (2004). CMS did not control rising power wheelchair spending (publication number GAO-04-716T), retrieved October 24th, 2006. PDF, link

    A GAO finding discussing how federal government spending increased for power wheelchair in the 1990s. This resulted in a much-greater-than-expected layout for these devices than may have been intended, especially considering the fact that these expensive items are often the target of Medicare fraud.


  • US General Accounting Office (2004). Program safeguards did not deter rising costs of power wheelchairs (publication number GAO-05-43), retrieved October 24th, 2006. PDF, link

    A GAO finding discussing how subsequent government provisions failed to halt the increase in spending on power wheelchairs. It highlights the fact that the government is further concerned about fraudulent spending on such items, and that current government safeguards might not be adequate.


  • Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006 (Public Print), HR. 3010, 109th Congress, 2nd session, 2005. PDF, link

    A line in this 2006 bill explicitly states that the department of health and human services must reduce spending on power wheelchairs by 1.5%. The federal government is taking deliberate action to correct what it sees as a source of fraud.


  • US General Accounting Office (1995). Long Term Care: Current Issues and Future Directions (publication number GAO/HEHS-95-109), retrieved October 24th, 2006. PDF, link

    This GAO finding discusses several of the ongoing challenges of elder care, and provides statistics about the number of people requiring long-term assistance. It provides an overview of the potential clientele for those using robotic walkers, and some possible concerns faced by the elderly.


  • US General Accounting Office (1995). Assisted Living: attempts to improve protection (publication number GAO/HEHS-95-109), retrieved October 24th, 2006. PDF, link

    This discusses the viability of various assisted living facilities, the alternative institutions to which people may be restricted without powerful new technology. Consumers often have difficulty understanding the elder care business, though the government provides relatively little in the way of oversight.


  • US Administration on Aging (2004). Compendium on Active Grants, retrieved October 24th, 2006. US Department of Health and Human Services. PDF, link

    A web site which lists numerous grants which make it possible for older Americans to participate in their communities, to the tune of 900 projects and $350B nationwide. Of special interest to the robotic walker community may be the priority III programs.


  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, HR. 3103, 104th Congress, 2nd session, 1996. PDF, link

    This act is one of the major acts in effects which deal with the protection of patient medical records. Multiple sections may be of interest for projects which may reveal a user’s location or may keep track of a user’s specific medical history.


  • US Department of Health and Human Services (2002). Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Heath Information (publication number 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164), retrieved October 25th, 2006. PDF, link

    This document lays out the current HHS standards for health information privacy. It is very dense, as it responds to public comments on health information rulings and provides clarification on several active laws.


  • Van Der Heijen, Rob and van Wess, Kiliaan (2001). Introducing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: Some Legal Issues, retrieved October 25th, 2006. European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research, 1(3), pp 309-326. PDF, link

    This paper provides a relatively broad (though unfortunately, not very detailed) historical overview of some of the legal history regarding autonomous vehicles. It deals with highway vehicles and focuses on laws in the European Union, but these laws may become the basis of US law and may eventually apply to robotic wheelchairs as well.


Supporting References

  • US Department of Justice (2006). ADA homepage: information and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act, retrieved October 23rd, 2006. Web site: link

  • US General Accounting Office (2004). Transportation Disadvantaged Seniors (publication number GAO-04-971), retrieved October 24th, 2006. link

  • US General Accounting Office (2004). Privacy Standards: Issues in HHS rules of confidentiality (publication number GAO/T-HEHS-00-106), retrieved October 24th, 2006. link

  • US Administration on Aging (2006), US Administration on Aging website, retrieved October 25th 2006. US Department of Health and Human Services. link

  • National Center of Physical Activity and Disability (2006), The National Center of Physical Activity and Disability Home Page, retrieved October 25th, 2006. link

  • US Department of Aging (2006). Older Americans Act of 1965 History and Navigation, retrieved October 25th 2006. US Department of Health and Human Services. link

  • US Department of Justice, disability rights section (2005). A Guide to Disabilities Rights Laws, retrieved October 25th, 2006. US Department of Justice. link

  • US General Accounting Office (2004): Unsustainable trends to control spending and improve value (publication number GAO-04-795SP), retrieved October 25th, 2006. link

  • Medicare Improvement Act of 2003, S. 1, 108th Congress, 1st session, 2002. link

  • US Department of Health and Human Services, office for civil rights (2006). Office for Civil Rights – Privacy of Heath Records, retrieved October 26th 2006. US Department of Health and Human Services. link



Public Health and Epidemiology

by Patrick Kelley

  • Melzer, David, Grant Izmirlian, Suzanne G. Leveille, and Jack M. Guralnik. Educational Differences in the Prevalence of Mobility Disability in Old Age: The Dynamics of Incidence, Mortality, and Recovery. Journal of Gerontology: SOCIAL SCIENCES 2001, Vol. 56B, No. 5, S294–S301 PDF

    This paper was interesting only because it discusses that there are differences in education that correlate to mobility disability, which may require additional design restraints, that would not be expected if the educational levels were expected to be normalized.


  • Kaye, H. Stephen, Taewoon Kang, Mitchell P. LaPlante. Mobility Device Use in the United States. National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. U.S. Department of Education. June 2000. PDF

    This paper is not an academic paper but is a full report on the actual use of Mobility Assistance devices. This will be useful for providing relevant statistics on the number of people who would benefit from a robotic walker.


  • Hoenig, MD, MPH, Helen. Assistive Technology and Mobility Aids for the Older Patient with Disability. Annals of Long Term Care: Volume 12, Number 9. September 2004. PDF

    This report discusses variations in use of different assistive technologies, and also glosses the debate over whether electronic scooters/wheelchairs cause patients to give up their own mobility earlier than might be necessary.


  • Hoenig, MD, Helen and Toni M. Cutson, MD. Assistive and Smart Technologies: Improving Older Adults' Quality of Life. PDF, link

    This report is a fair introduction to the use of assistive technologies in the lives of the aging, including environmental modifications that may be necessary and a discussion on the varieties of walkers.


  • Tinetti, Mary E. Preventing falls in Elderly Persons. The New England Journal of Medicine. Boston: Jan 2, 2003. Vol. 348, Iss. 1; pg. 42, 8 pgs. PDF

    This report from the New England Journal of Medicine focuses on the problem of elderly people falling and seriously injuring themselves. As the report states, with onethird of people over 65 falling and injuring themselves, and many of these falls recurring, a preventative strategy must be developed.


  • Lacey, Gerard, BAI, MA, PhD and Shane MacNamera, BA. User involvement in the design and evaluation of a smart mobility aid. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Developement. Vol 37 No 6. November/December 2000. PDF

    This paper is an important paper based on actual work done in prototyping and designing a smart mobility aid. This is an actual robotic mobility aid, and is mentioned in the brief.


  • Forlizzi, Jodi, Carl DiSalvo, and Francine Gemperle. Assistive Robotics and an Ecology of Elders Living Independently in Their Homes. HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, 2004, Volume 19, pp. 25–59 PDF

    This paper out of CMU discusses how robotic products added to the home environment of the elderly could benefit them. Section 3.2 on the ways elders interact with products is specifically valuable.


  • McCreadie, Claudine, and Anthea Tinker. The acceptability of assistive technology to older people. Ageing & Society 25, 2005, 91–110 PDF

    This paper relevantly discusses the accessibility of adding robotic products and assistive technology into the homes of the elderly. It concludes with a list of tensions that may be present given the inclusion of such technologies.


  • Morris, Margaret, Jay Lundell, Eric Dishman. Catalyzing Social Interaction with Ubiquitous Computing: A needs assessment of elders coping with cognitive decline. CHI 2004. PDF

    This paper focuses on the social needs and barriers to designing computing systems for the elderly. Specifically this paper looks at concepts for how to actually interact in social ways with older consumers.


  • Miskelly, Frank G. Assistive Technology in Elderly Care. Age and Ageing 2001; 30: 455-458. PDF

    A shorter discussion on developments in assistive technology and the benefits that assistive technologies have over human care.


  • Meng, Q., and M.H. Lee. Design issues for assistive robotics for the elderly. Advanced Engineering Informatics 20(2006)171–186 PDF, link


Rehabilitation Engineering

by Wanhong Xu

This paper and news collection is related to the problems arising from applying robotics into rehabilitation.

First, there are more requirement for robotics to be used in rehabilitation, like safety and re-programmable. Those papers and news explain new requirements and discuss specific techniques or solutions for those new requirements.

Second, using robotics in rehabilitation also causes ethnic problems to the society. Those papers and news also discuss those ethnic problems.

  • Neil Osterwel, Rehab Methods Equally Good at Restoring Walking Ability, medpage Today, online news, Feb, 2006. PDF, link

    This brief compared a method involving body-weight support on a treadmill versus an over-ground mobility with the goal of restoring walking ability of patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries back on their feet and walking.


  • Kevin Bullis, Robotic Rehab: Chicago PT wants to help stroke survivors learn to walk again, MIT Technology Review, September 2005. PDF, link

    This article emphasizes that robots should allow patients to make mistakes safely. and also robots should be able to re-programmed for letting patients bear more weight and move more freely when they get stronger and more coordinated.


  • Steven Dubowsky, Frank Genot, et al, PAMM - A Robotic Aid to the Elderly for Mobility Assistance and Monitoring: A "Helping-Hand" for the Elderly. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pages 570--576, 2000. PDF

    This paper describes the concept of a system, which provides a robotic aid of mobility assistance and monitoring to the elderly. Specially, this paper lists different physical and cognitive needs of patients with different causes.


  • Birgit Graf, Martin Hagele, Dependable Interaction with an Intelligent Home Care Robot, In Proc. of the IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation 2001. PDF

    This paper empahasizes the safety is the most essential issue in order to get people to trust and live with the robotic assistant. This paper further discusses specific safety issues that should be considered, and solution that had been accepted by some projects.


  • Robert Riener, et al, Human-Centered Rehabilitation Robotics, In Proceedings of 2005 IEEE 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics. PDF

    This paper presents a new human centered robotic approach, which uses the "patient-cooperative" strategy. This strategy considers the patient's intention and efforts rather than imposing any predefined movement such that the proposed approach can improve the therapeutic outcome compared to classical rehabilitation strategies.


  • Andrew J. Rentschler et al, Intelligent walkers for the elderly: Performance and safety testing of VA-PAMAID robotic walker, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol 40, No. 5, September/ October 2003. PDF

    This paper presented the test on a robotic walker, including safety factors, stability, energy consumption, fatigue life and sensor and control malfunctions.


  • Hyeon-Min Shim, Eung-Hyuk Lee, et al, Implementation of an Intelligent Walking Assistant Robot for the Elderly in Outdoor Environment, In Proceeding of the 2005 IEEE 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics. PDF

    This paper proposes an architecture of walking assistant robot for the elderly which is usable at outdoor environment, and this paper also discusses the main functions that this architecture requires.


  • William S. Harwin, et al, A Review of Design Issues in Rehabilitation Robotics with Reference to North American Research, In IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1995. PDF

    The paper reviews past and present work, and tries to identify the key features that have led to the success or failure of devices.


  • Choon-Young Lee, Development of Rehabilitation Robot Systems for Walking-Aid, In Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation. PDF

    This paper presents a mobile gait training system with body support, and shows that the system mobility is important for gait rehabilitation because users enjoyed using it for real walking.


  • Paolo Dario, et al, The past, Present and Future of Rehabilitation Robotics: An Ethical View from Pioneers of the Research, a roundtable discussion in the 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, 2005. PDF

    In this discussion, a lot of questions, which relate to robotics and their use in society in the realm of rehabilitation, have been discussed. Those questions include "Will robotics replace the jobs of therapist", and "what are the ethical implications of the integration of robots into these various therapies or their regimes".


  • Matthew Spenko, et al, Robotic Personal Aids for Mobility and Monitoring for the Elderly, in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol 14, No. 3, Sep, 2006. PDF

    This paper compares two rehabilitation devices for mobility and monitoring, and presents the existing challenge, the large size and non-holonomic constraints of those systems pose important maneuverability limitations, and the existing question, the nature of control between the assistive device and a human user who might have diminished physical and cognitive capabilities.


  • Aaron Morris, et al, A Robotic Walker That Provides Guidance, In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2003. PDF

    The paper proposes that providing assistance with navigation and global orientation is also important for a robotic walker.


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Fall 2006 Data Privacy Lab [Technology Dialectics] [Transdisciplinary Database]